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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25608853">It used to be hate</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatsrightZoeyeyye/pseuds/ThatsrightZoeyeyye'>ThatsrightZoeyeyye</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Firebringer - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, No Angst, their kids become friends and they have to Communicate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:27:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25608853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatsrightZoeyeyye/pseuds/ThatsrightZoeyeyye</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Over a decade after leaving high school, Zazzalil meets her old rival again at the door of their hometown's primary school.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jemilla/Zazzalil (Firebringer)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Starkid Writes 2020 Fic Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It used to be hate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_no_what_plot/gifts">oh_no_what_plot</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=starkid+writes+discord">starkid writes discord</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for the july 2020 starkid fic exchange for emily @oh_no_what_plot<br/>you said you liked firebringer and rivals to lovers, so here it is, i hope it doesn't suck too much</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started as a normal day, really. As normal as the first day of the school year can be when you have a seven-year-old son anyway.</p>
<p>Zazzalil woke up, went through her morning routine with Cole, walked him to school and waved him goodbye. She usually kissed his forehead when she dropped him to school, but he said he was too old for this.</p>
<p>Zazzalil ignored the pinch in her heart and watched him greet his classmates, breathing in the fresh morning air and taking a moment to feel melodramatic. In her opinion, you were never too old to pretend to be in a music video for a tragic love song.</p>
<p>She turned around, meaning to leave, but a woman caught her eye. She was kneeling in front of a kid, an overly enthusiastic smile plastered on her face as she tried to get the child to let go of her hand. Zazzalil had seen her fair share of emotional goodbyes, there was nothing special about it. But there was something about the woman that seemed familiar.</p>
<p>It took her some time to connect the dots, but eventually, buried deep in her memory, she recognised the voice, the smile, the eyes, and eventually she remembered. It was Jemilla.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After graduating from high school, Zazzalil had been fairly certain that she would never see Jemilla ever again.</p>
<p>It had felt a little weird, at the time, to leave her arch-nemesis behind. They hadn’t said goodbye, because they weren’t friends, and it would feel a little ridiculous to admit that there was any kind of rivalry between them.</p>
<p>They had been rivals, in a way. Enemies, maybe. Ever since middle school, they had battled for the best grades. Jemilla, by studying constantly and consistently and bragging about it. Zazzalil, by revising at the last minute and winging it because she just really had a thing for science. She was terrible at history and literature, but it didn’t really matter, she always effortlessly beat Jemilla at everything else (especially sports: Zazzalil had no shame admitting she was kind of a jock. She did participate in regional track and field competitions, after all).</p>
<p>They had despised each other. Politely. Zazzalil hated Jemilla, and she knew that Jemilla hated her back. She could see it in her eyes when she asked for her grades, trying to sound casual, but with an ever present edge in her voice. Nobody else realised, they took their rivalry as a joke. (Keeri knew: she’d spent all these years listening to Zazzalil’s angry rants).</p>
<p>And then, they had graduated. They’d left without looking back, and Jemilla had gone away to college at the other end of the country.</p>
<p>She had heard from Keeri, who had heard it from Emberly, that Jemilla had gone to college to get an education degree, all those years ago, when they’d left high school. She hadn’t heard any news since then.</p>
<p>She hadn’t thought about her much. Every once in a while, she had found the old class pictures, told her son a little bit about everyone, sparing half a second to wonder how Jemilla was doing, before putting the pictures back in their place and away from her mind.</p>
<p>She hadn’t heard that she was back in their hometown, and she hadn’t heard that she had a kid who, by some cruel turn of fate, apparently was the same age as Zazzalil’s son.</p>
<p>So really, Zazzalil had not expected to see Jemilla again at the door of their hometown’s primary school, over a decade later, on the first day of the school year.</p>
<hr/>
<p>She was nothing like she was in high school. Her cheeks were a little less round, her face having grown into that of an adult. Her hair was no longer long, straightened and pulled in a tight ponytail, but a crown of bouncy curls surrounding her face and reaching just below her jaw.</p>
<p>She had given up her thin rimmed rectangle glasses in favour of curved, almost round ones, and her fashion sense had greatly improved, if any conclusion could be drawn from her light blue button-up shirt and grey dress trousers.</p>
<p>She had been objectively pretty in high school, but Zazzalil had to admit that she had become beautiful.</p>
<p>Zazzalil stood there for a minute, not knowing whether to scream or laugh, but eventually she just turned away and walked to the bus stop without turning back.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After that, she saw her every day. Because of course, their children weren’t only classmates, they also had the same nanny. Tiblyn wasn’t the only childminder in town, and yet Jemilla had found a way to leave her daughter to her, even though Zazzalil had done that for the past seven years without being disturbed.</p>
<p>Their first encounter was a little awkward. Jemilla took only a second to recognise her, and she smiled immediately, though it did look very fake to Zazzalil.</p>
<p>They talked, of course. It was the polite thing to do, when they came to pick up their children at the same time and Tiblyn chatted away while the children got ready to leave, still as oblivious to their rivalry as she had been in high school.</p>
<p>So Zazzalil learnt a bit about Jemilla. She learnt that she had, in fact, graduated college with an education decree and gotten an offer to teach in the middle school there. She had adopted a two-year-old girl, Lena, and they’d lived there for a few years. Lena didn’t get along with her classmates, and their neighbours were the worst, so they had decided to move back to where Jemilla had grown up, close to her foster mother, Molag (who also happened to be their high school history teacher).</p>
<p>Zazzalil told Jemilla a little about her, because it seemed like the correct thing to do. About her engineering degree, her career, her current job, her accidental pregnancy at 24 and her decision to keep the child.</p>
<p>They were polite. They didn’t mention high school once. But there was still an underlying tension, a thinly veiled competition when they listed their accomplishments and education methods. They kept it behind polite smiles and the kind of airy chuckle that every young mother seemed to adopt.</p>
<p>Zazzalil decided that she still despised Jemilla, out of habit, maybe. It felt more natural. Jemilla seemed to do the same.</p>
<p>Cole and Lena didn’t get along much, at first, and that made it easy. At least Zazzalil didn’t have to worry about birthday parties and playdates. Cole was loud, outgoing and constantly excited, like his mother. Lena was mostly shy and quiet, but smart and bossy.</p>
<p>Cole called her a boring know-it-all, and she retaliated with a number of creative insults that often sent Cole crying in his mother’s arms. She could blame it on Jemilla. It was easy.</p>
<p>That was, of course, until they discovered their shared love for The Princess and the Frog. Lena’s eyes lit up when she heard Cole sing the movie’s songs, and she sang along with him. After that, she talked to him every day, and Cole listened, his eyes big and curious. Zazzalil was fairly certain she’d never seen him go that long without talking. All their rivalry was forgotten.</p>
<p>So really, it was only to be expected that, when October came, Lena invited Cole to her birthday party.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Cole had convinced Grant, one of Zazzalil’s colleagues and friends, to make him Lottie’s dress for his birthday, and he kept wearing it, even though it was a bit too small. Lena’s invitation indicated that it would be a costume party, and Cole insisted on wearing it. Zazzalil had no reason to refuse.</p>
<p>They were the first to arrive at the party, apparently, and Jemilla opened the door looking exhausted, which Zazzalil understood. Birthday parties for young children weren’t easy to organise. Cole ran to Lena and Zazzalil found herself standing awkwardly in the entrance.</p>
<p>“You’re both wearing green,” she said after a while, trying to break the silence, looking from Jemilla jumpsuit to Lena’s Tiana dress and box braids.</p>
<p>“Yep,” Jemilla answered, nodding slightly and staring at the wall behind Zazzalil’s head. She breathed in sharply, her eyes shifting to her daughter.</p>
<p>“Molag braided her hair yesterday,” she blurted out, sounding like it was the only thing coming to her mind, “Lena wanted Tiana’s bun, but we had no idea how to do that, so Molag said she’d get her green braids instead.”</p>
<p>“She makes a very pretty Tiana,” Zazzalil said. She meant it. Lena’s hair was usually left free, a thick mop of coily hair surrounding her face like a halo. It was the first time she saw it braided.</p>
<p>She almost told Jemilla that she was pretty too, in her light green jumpsuit with white and yellow flowers embroidered on the front and along one of her legs, but she caught herself at the last minute.</p>
<p>She didn’t know if Jemilla remembered how vocal she was about her bisexuality in high school, and she figured the other woman was probably straight. She didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. It wouldn’t do good to have her think she was attracted to her. Which she wasn’t.</p>
<p>The doorbell rang again and Zazzalil took it as her cue to leave. After one last hug to Cole and reminder to behave, she waved at Jemilla and left.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Of course, Zazzalil had to go and actually enjoy the time she spent talking to Jemilla. It was ridiculous, really. She’d spent most of her life hating the woman, and she had the audacity to make her laugh. It was outrageous.</p>
<p>It wasn’t Zazzalil’s fault. Jemilla was kind, smart, interesting, funny and actually looked like she cared about what Zazzalil had to say, which was a welcome change from her workplace full of men. They talked about their lives as single mothers and shared stories and advice, and it drew them closer.</p>
<p>Maybe they were friends, in a way. Maybe it didn’t make sense to hate her anymore, but Zazzalil was known for her stubbornness. She just decided not to think about it too much.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Before she knew it, the months had gone by and the school year was over. Lena and Cole said goodbye, Jemilla smiled at Zazzalil and Zazzalil smiled back, and they parted ways, fully prepared to not see each other for two months and not overthink it in any way whatsoever.</p>
<p>That was, at least, until she ran into Jemilla at their local pride parade. She had gone with Cole and Keeri, like every year. Cole always got very excited about them, enjoying the music and the colours.</p>
<p>But really, she hadn’t expected to see Jemilla, nor the bisexual colours painted on her cheeks, nor the lesbian flag hanging around Molag’s shoulders. Zazzalil had expected her teacher to be gay, but she’d never had any confirmation. She allowed herself a moment of self-satisfaction before focusing on the fact that Jemilla, her high school rival and current friend (probably), was apparently bi.</p>
<p>“Nice flag you have there,” the woman said, pointing at the blue, purple and pink flag floating behind Zazzalil like a superhero cape (she could always pretend Cole had asked her to wear it like that if anyone asked, but really, just because she was in her thirties didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to have some fun).</p>
<p>“Nice face paint,” Zazzalil answered, and they shared a small smile, their shoulders relaxing with a hidden sigh of relief.</p>
<p>They were interrupted by a voice calling for her.</p>
<p>“Chorn!” Zazzalil called back as her friend walked towards her, the nickname slipping before she could remember to use their name.</p>
<p>They never really took the time to meet, but they had been friends since college. They got lost in a discussion and Zazzalil forgot about Jemilla.</p>
<hr/>
<p>She really had no reason to be this excited at the beginning of the next school year, but when she reached the school and Cole ran straight to Lena and Jemilla shot her her largest, brightest smile, Zazzalil couldn’t help but smile back, keeping herself from running to the other woman.</p>
<p>“Hi,” she said, almost shyly, which was very uncharacteristic of her.</p>
<p>“Hi,” Jemilla whispered back, and her eyes were shining in a beautiful kind of way.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Nothing changed. They got back to their routine from the previous year, greeting each other briefly every morning before rushing to work, and talking in Tiblyn’s doorway every evening while they waited for their children to get ready.</p>
<p>Zazzalil realised she liked Jemilla a little more than strictly necessary. She was stupid like that, getting ridiculous crushes on beautiful women who would obviously never like her back.</p>
<p>But there was no denying that Jemilla was a wonderful woman, undeniably attractive and just fantastic altogether, and there wasn’t any reason to hate her anymore, especially when Zazzalil greatest wish was to see her smile.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Cole’s birthday passed, then Lena’s. They helped each other prepare and stayed the whole time. Two adults were always better than one to supervise a group of children.</p>
<p>They talked and talked, never seeming to run out of things to say, only interrupted by children coming to them with questions and requests from time to time, laughing from afar at their children’s antics, heads aching from the noise but smiling anyway.</p>
<p>Zazzalil tried to convince herself that she wasn’t in love with Jemilla but really, she couldn’t deny the way she felt when Jemilla smiled, when she laughed (that lovely, magical sound), when she looked at her with her beautiful brown eyes, listening intently, or when she grinned at her, eyes shining with mischief when she talked about stupid ideas and made ridiculous plans as a joke.</p>
<p>She loved her so much it hurt.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sometimes, Tiblyn got sick. It wasn’t really surprising, in her line of work, especially in the winter. Children got sick and she did too. Usually, Keeri would pick Cole up and have him join her dance classes in the evening until Zazzalil could get off work, but she was in Prague watching ballet for her birthday.</p>
<p>So when she got a message from Tiblyn one cold Tuesday morning in December, saying that she was really sick and didn’t want to contaminate the children, apologising for warning her on such a short notice, there was nothing much Zazzalil could do.</p>
<p>“Ah, shit,” she muttered under her breath, and Cole covered his ears, giggling.</p>
<p>She heard a gasp and looked up to see Lena, staring eyes wide at her.</p>
<p>“You said a bad word,” she whispered.</p>
<p>Zazzalil turned her gaze to Jemilla, who looked at her disapprovingly but with a little smile at the corner of her mouth.</p>
<p>“I imagine you got Tiblyn’s text,” she said, “do you know anyone who can take care of Cole?”</p>
<p>“No,” Zazzalil sighed, “and of course my boss just had to schedule an important meeting tonight.”</p>
<p>“Bosses tend to do that,” Jemilla murmured in sympathy.</p>
<p>Zazzalil nodded for a minute, staring at the empty air a little to the left of the other woman’s head, hoping a solution would pop up in her brain without actually thinking.</p>
<p>“I’ll ask Molag to pick up Lena, do you want her to take Cole too?” Jemilla offered.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to be a bother,” Zazzalil muttered, “I’ll find something.”</p>
<p>Jemilla smiled a little.</p>
<p>“It’s really not a problem,” she insisted, “Lena and Cole are best friends anyway. Just give me your number, I’ll give you Molag’s address so you can pick him up after work.”</p>
<p>Zazzalil agreed, muttering a thank you with a smile, and forced herself not to put a heart emoji next to Jemilla’s name in her contacts like an idiot.</p>
<p>Cole and Lena looked very excited to both spend the afternoon at Molag’s.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When Zazzalil was finally able to leave her meeting and go to Molag’s to get Cole, it was almost eight. She wasn’t really surprised when the woman bullied her into joining them for dinner.</p>
<p>“I made too much food!” she exclaimed when Zazzalil kept refusing, “Jemilla and Lena don’t come often, so it’s often little old me all alone-” (she threw a pointed look at Jemilla) “-and I never really know how much food to make for three, so there’s enough for an entire army.”</p>
<p>She was already adding two plates to the table before Zazzalil could accept, so she stopped fighting it. It took a minute to calm the children down enough so they could sit still and put on their napkins (even though they insisted they were too old for those). Eventually, they took their seats</p>
<p>Molag fed the conversation, talking and talking, asking Zazzalil about her life, and whenever she would say something funny Zazzalil would look at Jemilla, trying to see a glance of her smile.</p>
<p>When Jemilla excused herself to go to the bathroom, Molag looked at Zazzalil straight in the eyes with a smug grin.</p>
<p>“You love her, don’t you?” she asked like it was a mundane question, and Zazzalil almost choked on her food from the surprise, glancing at the bathroom door in alarm.</p>
<p>“She loves you too, you know,” the woman said softly before Zazzalil could even try to deny her previous statement.</p>
<p>“No she doesn’t,” she muttered weakly, and Molag shrugged, still grinning.</p>
<p>Jemilla came back and they pretended nothing had happened, sparking another conversation. She asked her for the salt and Zazzalil was hit by the domesticity of it, her breath catching in her throat. Jemilla didn’t seem to notice. Molag did.</p>
<p>It was a little late when they said goodbye, and the children were almost falling asleep.</p>
<p>“Do something about it, will you?” Molag said at the door, patting her arm lightly, and Zazzalil could only give her a half-hearted nod.</p>
<p>She wanted to do something about it, but she was also a coward.</p>
<hr/>
<p>A week later, Cole and Lena’s teacher organised a trip to the museum, and Zazzalil decided to accompany them. Because the universe seemed to hate her (or love her, depending on how you looked at it), Jemilla had made the same decision.</p>
<p>They spent most of the bus ride keeping kids from throwing up, but they found time to talk, in quiet whispers on the front seats, laughing at each other's jokes.</p>
<p>If Zazzalil flirted a little during the museum visit, she really wasn't to be blamed. She was a little flirty with everyone she got along with, and Jemilla didn't seem to mind. If Molag asked, she could always tell her she had tried.</p>
<p>When they got off the bus in the evening, their heads pounding from the hours of hearing children scream, they sighed with content. </p>
<p>Soon, all the parents had come to pick up their children and the teacher had thanked them for their help before saying goodbye. Cole and Lena were playing a little away from them, waiting for the time to go home.</p>
<p>Jemilla turned to Zazzalil with a small, shy smile on her face.</p>
<p>"Hey," she said, her voice almost a whisper, "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime?"</p>
<p>It took a minute for Zazzalil to process what she had heard, and she kept herself from blurting out "yes please", unsure if she had understood it right.</p>
<p>"Like, with the kids?" she asked, cursing mentally and wincing slightly as she heard a voice waver.</p>
<p>Jemilla frowned, though it almost looked like she was holding back a laugh.</p>
<p>"No," she grinned hesitantly, "I meant the two of us, on a date."</p>
<p>"Oh," Zazzalil breathed out, and she realised it sounded pretty stupid.</p>
<p>"I'd love to!" she exclaimed, and she winced again, afraid of sounding overeager, "I mean, yeah, that would be nice."</p>
<p>Jemilla smiled this time, looking away for a second as her cheeks coloured slightly.</p>
<p>"I actually haven't planned anything, I didn't think I'd get this far."</p>
<p>It was Zazzalil's time to smile, and she figured she might as well make the next move.</p>
<p>"There's a nice restaurant downtown, we could meet there on Friday evening," she suggested. Three days seemed like a good amount of time.</p>
<p>"That sounds nice," Jemilla grinned, "eight o'clock?"</p>
<p>Zazzalil nodded, and they parted ways.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The rest of the week, Zazzalil tried not to think about it too much, but it didn't really work.</p>
<p>She hadn't been in a relationship since before Cole was born. When he was young, but old enough to be left at Keeri's unsupervised, she had gone on a few dates, but they hadn’t led to much, and it had been four years since the last one.</p>
<p>She did her best to remain calm, but she was so excited her colleagues noticed, and the cool guy down the corridor made fun of her every time she walked by his office. It was light-hearted and fun, unlike the jokes from the guys down at HR, and it made her smile and almost blush, glaring at him in mock anger.</p>
<p>Keeri picked Cole up from Tiblyn’s on Friday, and Zazzalil found herself alone in her apartment when she got home, having not seen Jemilla since the morning, and forcing herself not to overthink her outfit once more. After much debate, she had chosen a sleeveless black dress that covered her neck and flowed around her legs.</p>
<p>She got dressed, fixed her ponytail, messed up her eyeliner a few too many times before getting it right.</p>
<p>“You look hot,” she told her reflection in the mirror, and it was true, not that she wanted to appear arrogant.</p>
<p>She fixed her hair once more before realising she was already late and power-walking downtown. She didn’t want to arrive sweaty, red in the face and out of breath, so she didn’t run. She was still feeling very hot and breathing a bit too deep when she reached the restaurant, a little over five minutes after eight.</p>
<p>Jemilla was standing next to the door, shuffling from one leg to the other, with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her light grey trench coat to protect herself from the cold. When she saw the other woman, she smiled, looking relieved and happy, and Zazzalil felt her heart beat a little faster at the sight (the bastard had the tendency to do that).</p>
<p>They smiled, almost hesitantly, before Zazzalil opened the door for Jemilla, who grinned, muttering a small ‘thank you’, and walking in without looking away from her. A waiter welcomed them and brought them to a small table in a corner of the room, away from the big, loud tables.</p>
<p>“You look beautiful,” Zazzalil said, because she figured she could.</p>
<p>Jemilla was wearing a deep blue top with off the shoulder sleeves that revealed her collarbones and dark grey trousers. Her hair looked shiny and soft, surrounding her face and barely covering her neck. She rarely wore make-up, but she had put on dark lipstick and a discreet wing of eyeliner. It was beautiful.</p>
<p>She smiled shily, looking away for a second.</p>
<p>“You look beautiful too,” she murmured, and it was Zazzalil’s time to smile.</p>
<p>They made small-talk throughout the evening, conversation coming easily. Waiters came and went to take their orders and bring their food and drinks, and the evening passed, time stretching for what felt both like an eternity and a second.</p>
<p>Zazzalil always left a restaurant as soon as she was done, so the waiters could do their job without having to wait for her to leave, but once their deserts were gone, they were still talking, not realising how late it was, finishing a bottle of champagne.</p>
<p>They were only interrupted when the chef came out of the kitchen, and Zazzalil realised everyone else was gone.</p>
<p>She felt the urge to apologize, but the woman greeted them enthusiastically, and she seemed to know Jemilla. After a second, Zazzalil remembered where she recognised her from. It was Emberly, Jemilla’s best (and only) friend in high school. She had been shy at the time, only ever talking to her friends and never making eye contact with anyone, but she seemed more outgoing.</p>
<p>“I would have never seen this coming in high school,” she exclaimed, waving her hands in their general direction, “you two really didn’t get along.”</p>
<p>“It was over a decade ago,” Jemilla said, “I think we’ve both grown up.”</p>
<p>She sent a glance at Zazzalil from the side of her eyes, almost hidden under her eyelashes, and Zazzalil nodded slightly.</p>
<p>Emberly had a soft look on her face when they looked back at her, like she was keeping herself from aw-ing loudly and for an unreasonable amount of time, which Zazzalil wouldn’t have appreciated.</p>
<p>Jemilla stood up, almost abruptly, and she looked at Zazzalil expectantly.</p>
<p>“We should probably go, Emberly has a husband and kids to go home to.”</p>
<p>Zazzalil nodded and got up, resisting the urge to grab Jemilla’s hand when they said goodbye to Emberly and left.</p>
<p>It was freezing outside, even with their jackets, and Jemilla linked her arms around Zazzalil’s for warmth.</p>
<p>“Is this okay?” she asked quietly, and Zazzalil smiled, pulling her closer.</p>
<p>They walked in silence, until they reached the crosswords where their routes separated. It was already late, and they knew they had to go back to their children.</p>
<p>"I really had a nice time tonight," Zazzalil murmured, her voice low, but in the silence of the night it seemed too loud.</p>
<p>"I did too," Jemilla murmured back, so softly Zazzalil almost didn't hear.</p>
<p>"We should do it again sometime," she said, trying to sound confident.</p>
<p>Jemilla breathed out deeply, seeming less nervous. She smiled and nodded.</p>
<p>"Same time, same place, next week?" Zazzalil asked, "or do we do something different?"</p>
<p>"Same thing sounds nice," Jemilla answered.</p>
<p>They shared a smile and stood there, face to face, not wanting to leave. Eventually, Zazzalil broke the silence and said goodbye, walking away to get Cole at Keeri's place.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The days passed one by one, slowly, excruciatingly so. It felt like Friday would never come. Cole kept her busy, babbling on and on and asking for help for his homework, trying to help her cook and making a mess, waking up from nightmares in the middle of night and asking for comfort.</p>
<p>Eventually, Friday came. She dropped Cole off at Keeri with a bag to stay the night and walked away to Emberly's restaurant.</p>
<p>It was colder that week than the previous one, so she had discarded her dress in favour of black trousers and a brown cashmere jumper with white lines around the collar and sleeves. She didn't wear it often, because she was afraid of tearing or staining it, but she had wanted to dress nice for Jemilla.</p>
<p>When she arrived at the restaurant, she saw that Jemilla had had the same idea. She wore a light grey turtleneck with dark purple trousers, and she looked beautiful, as usual.</p>
<p>She opened the door for Zazzalil this time, and they fell into an easy conversation, nervousness flowing away as they took their seats.</p>
<p>Zazzalil wondered how she'd ever been able to hate Jemilla. She had been a rather arrogant teenager, so she understood their high school rivalry a little, but it had taken months to realise how much she'd changed after they met again. She wondered if this could have happened sooner if she hadn't tried so hard to antagonise her for so long.</p>
<p>She looked up from her menu to see Jemilla already looking at her, and she felt at home.</p>
<p>That time, they left early, hand in hand, with Jemilla thumb softly brushing over Zazzalil's knuckles.</p>
<p>Their houses were in different directions, which meant they had to say goodbye, since Zazzalil didn't have to pick Cole up. She didn't want to leave just yet.</p>
<p>"Do you want to like, watch a movie at my house or something?" she asked, "it's still early."</p>
<p>"Yes," Jemilla blurted out, "I mean, yes, that sounds nice.</p>
<p>Zazzalil snorted, Jemilla looked away, and they started walking, pulling each other closer until their arms brushed against each other.</p>
<p>They walked in silence, settling in the comfort of each other's presence.</p>
<p>They reached Zazzalil's apartment, walked in, hung up their coats and went into the living room, naturally, like if they'd done it thousands of times before.</p>
<p>Zazzalil offered Jemilla something to drink, and they ended up opening a bottle of wine, sitting on the couch and turning on the TV. They picked a random bad horror movie on Netflix, laughing at the poorly written storyline and stupidity of the characters.</p>
<p>When the credits rolled in, Zazzalil turned her head to Jemilla, glad to see that she was already looking at her.</p>
<p>"Is this the part where we kiss," Jemilla whispered, her eyes trailing to Zazzalil's lips.</p>
<p>"If you want it to be," she answered, following the movement.</p>
<p>Jemilla smiled and leaned in. Zazzalil closed the gap, bringing her lips to the other woman's own and resting her hand in the back of her neck. They kissed slowly, comfortably, learning each other's rhythm and settling in each other’s warmth.</p>
<p>"This is nice," Jemilla whispered when they pulled away, "I'd like to never stop doing that."</p>
<p>Zazzalil chuckled lightly.</p>
<p>"Yeah, me too."</p>
<hr/>
<p>Years and years later, when Lena got married, Cole claimed that, in the absence of a father, he had the right to walk her down the aisle, as her brother.</p>
<p>She said something about him being so clumsy he'd probably walk on the bottom of her dress and he gasped in mock offense. She ended up wearing a suit, but Cole did walk on the bottom of his skirt when he walked Lena down the aisle.</p>
<p>Zazzalil and Jemilla watched from their seats as Lena's spouse-to-be giggled and she glared at them, muttering something about getting a divorce if they didn't murder Cole right this second.</p>
<p>"You could never," they whispered as the mayor looked between the two alarmingly.</p>
<p>"You're right," Lena murmured lovingly, "you'd get custody of the cat and I can't live without him."</p>
<p>"For the cat, then," they muttered, grinning, before the mayor cleared his throat to get their attention.</p>
<p>Zazzalil felt Jemilla's hand brush against hers and linked their fingers, smiling. She was glad they’d stopped hating each other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>big thanks to my favourite person who took time to beta for me ilysm (@everyone if it's still bad you can blame them)(im kidding they're wonderful and must not be blamed for anything ever)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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